A Little Young for Nightmare Night
In the center of Ponyville, there were plenty of ponies finishing setting up decorations just in time for Nightmare Night, which was very handy since the holiday is only tomorrow. The reason for this last-minute finishing decorating was due to the fact that Mayor Mare had ordered a giant version of a pumpkin all the way from Manehattan, which needed help with being lifted from the train it arrived on. So there weren't any ponies you can't count beside the two of the four powerhouses of the Super Six, Wonder Mare and Supermare. One is an Amazon princess, the other is a Kryptonian pegasus, and both of them are ponies with super strength that are currently lifting the giant fruit across town, ponies beneath them watching them with awe.
Not showing any strain from carrying the pumpkin, Wonder Mare, Princess Diana, maintained her hold on it. "Is this too difficult for you, Supermare?"
"No, I got it under control." Supermare, Kara Danvers, reassured her friend as they got even closer to the square where the town hall was located.
"Steady now." Wonder Mare calmly ordered her friend, hoping to not startle her and cause her to drop the precious cargo.
Getting closer to the ground, the two superpowered ponies carefully placed the pumpkin on the grass in front of the town hall, where ponies can admire its size, which was about 7 feet tall. One of the ponies among them was Mayor Mare, who looked proud of her purchase.
"I'm so glad you could help with lifting this over here, but this could use some cutting." The mayor said to the two superhero ponies.
Managing to not let out a groan but instead a chuckle, Supermare flew back up to the top of the orange fruit and used her heat vision to cut around at the top to allow a hole to be made and to allow a candle to be placed inside. Next, she used her heat vision to cut eye and mouth holes into it, forming a smiling face.
"Thank you, Supermare." The mayor handed her ten bits.
But Supermare pushed them away. "You know I don't do this for the money, I do it out of kindness."
"I know, it just means so much to us that you help all of us with getting things ready for tomorrow." The mayor smiled as she put the bits away.
"Madam Mayor, we are always happy to help the citizens of Ponyville, whether it is combating threats or help with decorating in time of festivities." Wonder Mare shook hooves with the mayor.
"I'm happy to hear that. If you will excuse me, I got have some paperwork to do." The mayor started to walk to the town hall, but stopped and turned where she stood. "Oh, I hope to see you tomorrow, Wonder Mare, won't be fun without you there."
After the mayor had said that, Wonder Mare and Supermare went to find the rest of their friends before running into the Cutie Mark Titans, three young ponies who were on a constant quest for their cutie marks. The members of this group were Donna Troy, Jesse Quick, and Freddy Freeman. Noticing the two grown ponies, the three walked to them, Freddy walking on crutches.
"Hello, Donna." Wonder Mare said to the bright red-coated filly.
"Hi, Wonder Mare," Donna said to the grown alicorn.
"I assume you three are excited about the festival?" Wonder Mare asked them.
"Not only that, but there is also all of the Nightmare Night candy we are gonna get tomorrow," Freddy said with excitement in his voice.
"Wait, young ponies get candy on this day?" Wonder Mare was confused.
Jesse Quick was confused at Wonder Mare's own confusion. "You never got any free candy as a filly?"
"I did get food as a filly from the kindness of my fellow Amazons. But not of the sugary treats I have heard of ponies getting on a holiday." Wonder Mare explained what she knew.
"Well, we get candy by going house to house and give some candy to a statue of Princess Luna when she was Nightmare Eclipso," Donna explained to the grown mare she admired. "All while wearing costumes. You might like mine when you see it tomorrow."
"Sounds exciting." Wonder Mare said with a hint of sadness. "Maybe I will see you three tomorrow?"
"You bet!" All three said to her, before walking away with excitement on their minds.
Noticing her slight sadness, Supermare nudged her with her right hoof. "Wonder Mare, are you alright?'
Trying to hide her feelings for now, Wonder Mare smiled. "No, Supermare, it is fine. Let's go to the others and see how they are doing. Maybe Mary isn't at home right just yet."
The pony Wonder Mare was referring to was Mary Marvel, Mary Champion when she isn't in her adult form when she says "Shazam". Finding Mary Marvel with Green Lantern, Black Canary, and Batmare at a diner, the two entered it to eat what was on the menu, sitting on chairs around a round table.
Eating a hayburger was Black Canary, who had her mask on her face, spoke with Wonder Mare. "So you started to feel sad after you talked with the Cutie Mark Titans?"
"I guess it was them talking about their excitement for tomorrow night and their youthful energy made me realize I missed out a lot while I was on the island." Wonder Mare said before she ate a fry.
"Diana," Green Lantern, Jessica Cruz started to talk. "You were raised on that island because your fellow Amazons had decided to hide from the vilest stallions in Equestria, I think it is slightly justified that you missed on events that happened in the past hundreds of years if it meant to your mom that you were safe."
"Green Lantern's right, It is fine you missed on some things." Mary Marvel tried to reassure her.
"That's just it, I wasn't here to experience what all of you here have already done when it comes to holidays like this." Wonder Mare continued on with her moaning.
"To be fair, Nightmare Night was when my dad kept me really close to him because he was afraid I might get hurt." Batmare, Barbara Gordon, recalled the nights of embarrassment her dad gave her.
"Oh, Nightmare Night was great for me when I was a filly. Not long after I arrived here on Earth, my sister and I went out trick-or-treating, getting the biggest bags of candy imaginable." Supermare remembered her and her sister receiving the massive bags of candy.
"I remember when I dressed as a royal guard for one Nightmare Night, mainly in an attempt to convince my mother to allow me to join it when I'm older." Black Canary recalled the nagging from her mother, who was a member of the Royal Guard.
"There was this one time my parents put me in this embarrassing cactus dress that made ponies laugh at me, but I didn't want my parents's feelings to get hurt if I did them I hated it," Jessica said to the others, knowing they might laugh at her.
Which came true with Mary Marvel giggling. "Oh yeah, My uh... parents put me in this weird alien costume that made me look like I was sick instead."
Everypony knew the stutter was because Mary Marvel was the pony with the biggest secret in that she is really a filly, who need only say "Shazam" in order to transform into the superpowered form they now see.
"It all sounds really lovely, I imagine I would have loved it." Wonder Mare said before looking a little sadder. "Is it okay if I take my leave, Steve wants me to help him with setting the library up when these trick-or-treaters arrive. Here, take some of my money." She put a small bag of bits on the table.
Looking at her friend with concern, Supermare nodded and said, "Yes, you can go ahead. We'll just stay here and finish our food."
Slightly smiling, Wonder Mare exited the building through the front doors of the diner, leaving her friends with other ponies in it. While at the table, the rest of the Super Six watched her leave with concern most evident on their faces.
"You know, I kinda feel bad for her not having the fillyhood we all had." Green Lantern said to the others.
"But she can still enjoy tomorrow night with the rest of us. There are gonna be games, snacks, and music to dance to." Batmare suggested.
"Girls, I think it is clear that she wants to try trick-or-treating herself, but feels she isn't allowed to because she is a little old for it." Supermare theorized and suggested.
"I might know of something that can help her with that." Mary Marvel called attention to herself and her friends looked at her. "But before I go to where I might find it, I'm gonna have to ask of you girls to get Wonder Mare a costume, one the size of a filly."
"Why?" Black Canary asked Mary Marvel.
"You will see it when I get back." Mary Marvel said before she ate two fries. "I think it is time I paid another visit to a friend."
Later that day, Mary Marvel walked over to a cave near Ponyville, a rather unremarkable cave at first glance, it wasn't to Mary Marvel as she walked inside it toward a rock wall where she charged her hooves with electricity and sent two bolts of lightning at it. When the bolts struck the wall, strange symbols appeared on the wall as it started to glow white in an upper rectangle surrounded by gold frames like the kind used for pictures, which Mary Marvel walked through and vanished from sight.
Entering a gray stone chamber occupied by relics collected from past adventures, fire suspended in the air to guide those inside the structure, and seven statues that represented the Seven Deadly Sins, the embodiments of Envy, Greed, Hatred, Pride, Sloth, Lust, and Gluttony. Walking around the castle, Mary Marvel entered a throne room where an old unicorn stallion with a long white beard sat upon a stone throne that was set under a massive block hanging by a thread above the wizard, while a book sat on a pedestal and a map that showed all of Equestria on it.
On his throne, the old stallion, known as the wizard Shazam, watched Mary Marvel as she came closer. "My mighty champion has returned to me. Mary, I have watched you through all of your feats of heroism alongside your allies and felt an immense sense of pride."
"Not enough to release the spirit of Pride, right?" Mary Marvel asked.
"I have made sure to keep my feelings in check, Mary." The wizard said as he got up from his throne. "So what do I owe this visit?'
Mary coughed before she started to speak, "So there is this friend of mine that feels like she really missed out on this one holiday that a lot of fillies love and she feels that she would love to experience it if it weren't for the fact she is an adult." Mary said fast enough that it can be understood, then took a breath after she did so. "Well, I remembered on my last visit you mentioned one of your treasures that could age or deage a pony if so desired."
"Indeed, I have mentioned it. If you will just follow me to the relic room." Shazam walked right past Mary Marvel and led her back to the room with the treasures he had collected over his career as a magical user of order, one such item is a green stone with what looked like the hands of a clock on it floated in the air as Shazam walked to it. "This item is known to many as the Age Stone. While age spells are among the hardest spells to be performed by unicorns, this stone makes it much easier with the utmost concentration while holding it to cause the target of whoever uses to progress or regress in age."
"That is exactly what my friend and I need, Lord Shazam." Mary Marvel tried to grab the stone, but the old wizard pulled it away from her.
"There is an unfortunate side effect to account for this relic. If the pony affected by the stone isn't restored in 6 hours, he or she may start to act the age they are currently at and may never act as they were before again." Shazam warned her. "Do you promise to restore this friend to normal before it is too late?"
"I promise I won't let you down." Mary Marvel confirmed, the stone being handed to her by the wizard who bestowed upon her powers and an adult alicorn form.
"Take care to use it well, my young champion," Shazam advised his pupil.
"You have my word." Mary Marvel promised him. "My friend is gonna love this."
"Then you may take your leave," Shazam informed her.
Walking past the old wizard similar to how he had done to her earlier, Mary Marvel went over to the door she entered earlier to exit the stone castle, the door in the cave vanished from view as though it had never existed.
The next day, it was close to 8:00 pm at the Golden Oaks Library where Princess Diana and Steve Trevor, member of the Royal Guard reside as roommates. Even though the two are only friends, ponies like to think they are a couple that doesn't want ponies to know about it. Wearing a leather jacket, Steve Trevor was downstairs with Diana as she read a letter delivered by a mail pony in the morning.
Noticing since the day before that Diana was upset, Steve looked at her with concern as he listened to what she read to herself from the letter until knocking was heard from the door. "I'll get it, Diana," Steve said to his roommate as he walked over to open the door and revealed the rest of the Super Six standing outside with Kara, wearing her glasses to hide her identity, who was holding six huge shopping bags.
"Happy Nightmare Night!" All five said to Steve.
"Girls, I'm glad to see that all of you are here. Diana has been a little down since yesterday." Steve said, stepping to the side in order to allow Diana's friends in.
"Don't worry, I got just the thing to cheer her up." Mary Marvel, in her adult form for the moment, said as she carried the stone in a pouch.
Getting up from her seat cushion, Diana walked over to her friends. "I see all of you are ready for tonight from the bags you carry."
"While we are still grown-up, we can still put on costumes for fun," Jessica, her coat brown when she isn't in uniform said to Diana. "Besides, we wear our wear costumes almost every day."
"But you don't need to worry about not trick-or-treating when we have this." Mary Marvel said, pulling the age stone from the pouch with her magic and showing it off to her friends.
"A rock?" Diana questioned her red alicorn friend.
"This rock is something from my wizard friend that has the power to make ponies younger or older than they are now." Mary Marvel started to explain to Diana and Steve. "Diana, I already talked with the others and we all agree that this stone should be used to turn you into a filly so you can trick-or-treat, making some filly memories of your own."
"You want to make Diana younger?" Steve asked, amazed and confused by the idea.
"Did the wizard even say that this is safe?" Diana asked Mary Marvel, a little worried about this plan.
"Don't worry, I'll go back to my normal form and act like a friend that is showing you around town." Mary Marvel started explaining the plan.
"While the rest of us will be your foalsitters until Mary uses the stone to turn you back to normal." Barbara continued explaining the plan.
"While you are a filly, you get to wear a costume and go out trick-or-treating." Kara finished explaining.
"But it is all up to you, Diana. We will understand if you refuse." Mary Marvel said.
Thinking over what can go wrong while thinking about how nothing could go wrong, Diana made her decision in her mind, then telling her friends. "I accept this plan."
Steve turned to her after she answered. "Diana, what if everypony else started freaking out over how you are filly and won't leave you alone?"
"Oh, we got a solution right here," Dinah said as she pulled something from one of the bags Kara put on the floor, a white princess costume with a gown that could cover a pegasus filly's wings from sight. "This costume can cover your wings without it being painful."
"Plus, we figured it would be funny if you were wearing it." Kara giggled.
"So how does this stone work, Mary?" Diana looked at the stone Mary Marvel held with her magic.
"All I need to do is concentrate on an age I want my target to be and you are zapped with a laser beam." Mary Marvel explained to her friend. "So just stay still and I will blast you with magic."
Aiming the stone at Diana, Mary Marvel concentrated and tried picking a suitable age for Diana to fit into the costume, firing a red beam from the stone and it hit Diana, forming a red orb of energy around her for a few seconds until the orb of energy dissolved to reveal a sight none of her friends expected. What they saw was an older version of Diana with a flowing mane like that of Celestia and Luna's, a taller height than the rest of her friends, a taller horn on her head, and a huge pair of wings.
"Girls, I think something went wrong here," Diana said as she noticed was taller compared to her friends than usual.
"You made her older, Mary!" Jessica freaked out.
"Hold on, I can fix this!" Mary screamed before firing a green beam that formed an orb of green energy around Diana.
What they saw when the energy dissolved was even more unexpected, a younger version of Diana when she was a foal, with her mane looking a lot shorter than in her usual form, her body only reaching the height of half any of her friends' hooves, her wings only slightly big enough to allow her to fly for a bit, her horn looking rather small, her eyes looking a little bigger than usual, and a diaper appeared on her now blank flank while in this state since foals don't have cutie marks until they are older. Seeing her friends looking taller than her, Diana started to babble in shock.
"I don't think she is gonna fit the costume." Barbara tried to joke about.
"Well, I'm not changing her diapers." Dinah had stated to her friends.
"Third time's the charm." Mary Marvel said, blasting the foal with a red beam from the stone, engulfing Diana in a red orb of energy.
When the orb dissolved, it revealed the sight everypony was expecting and welcomed. What they saw was a filly version of Diana looking close enough to the ages of the Cutie Mark Titans with her wings about the length of Donna Troy's, a horn the length of Jesse Quick, and about halfway up to the height of her friends.
"I think you got it right, Mary," Diana said before putting her right hoof to her mouth, shocked at how high her voice was at this age, then uncovering her mouth. "Is that really my voice?"
Kara giggled at hearing the voice. "Yes, I have to admit that it is really funny to hear it."
"It is also adorable to hear it from you of all ponies," Dinah said to her now smaller friend.
"Well, I'm still an Amazon with years of training and I can take all of you down," Diana said in her younger voice.
"Well, can you handle the dark, little Amazon?" Jessica cooed at Diana.
"Maybe it's best for us to not mock her while she is young," Steve suggested.
"Thank you, Steve." Diana was grateful for what he said. "I better not be made fun of during my second fillyhood."
"Don't worry, Diana," Mary Marvel said before saying "Shazam" and a lightning bolt struck her in order to turn into her younger earth pony filly form of Mary Champion. "I'll make sure that nothing bad happens to you tonight."
"None of us will," Dinah said, the others standing next to her.
"Excellent, I doubt Princess Luna will want anypony to be hurt before she arrives here." Diana let slip out.
"Princess Luna is coming to Ponyville?" Kara was curious.
"Yes, she wanted to know about this holiday built around her legend of being Nightmare Eclipso and what ponies do on it, so she figured we would be the ones to help her." Diana used her magic from her little horn to lift and show off the letter. "Guess this means I will have to grow up for her arrival."
But Dinah had an idea. "No, you can stay like this for tonight. While we are watching you, we can show the princess around town and help her learn about the holiday."
"Are you sure you handle keeping an eye on me and assist the princess?" Diana asked her friend.
"Yeah, we can handle it. You have nothing to worry about." Kara assured the alicorn filly.
"Alright, I trust all of you to handle tonight." Diana accepted their proposal.
"Now, about we suit up?" Barbara asked the rest of the ponies.
In the amount of time that felt like twelve minutes, all six of the female ponies were dressed in their Nightmare Night costumes, all of them staring at each other in order to admire how they looked in their costumes.
With fake fangs in her mouth, a dark black cape on her back, her mane curled into a bun, and fake bat ears on her real ones, Mary Champion was dressed like a young vampire mistress. With a beret on her black-maned head, a bag on both of her sides filled with paintbrushes, Jessica Cruz was dressed like an artist. Wearing gold armor that covered most of her body with a blue maned helmet on her head, Dinah Lance looked like she could be a member of the Royal Guard. Putting on a pair of glasses after she had put on a patterned coat which matched with her hat, Barbara Gordon looked like a detective most ponies would find in mystery novels that would keep ponies guessing until the end. The only other pony who had finished putting on her costume was Kara as she wore a green dress that made her look like a witch if it weren't for her glasses.
While they were all finished putting on theirs, Diana was helped into hers by Kara as she wasn't too familiar with dresses and needed help with it. Looking at herself in her mirror, Diana saw the white dress hide her wings from sight, the golden flower that hung on her right side, and the small tiara that looked similar to hers if it weren't for the fact it was made from plastic.
"I look beautiful in this, Kara." Diana was shocked at how she looked in the dress.
"Which is why I thought this costume would work for you," Kara said to her now smaller friend. "Ponies will give you plenty of candy after they see you. Plus, a princess costume makes sense since you are one anyway."
"I suppose it does." Diana before walking downstairs to reveal her costume.
"Aw!" All of her friends said at the same time.
"Is the little princess ready for tonight?" Steve said in a mocking tone.
"Steve!" Diana was slightly offended. "You said you wouldn't mock me."
"Oh come on, how many times am I gonna say that to you without it being weird?" Steve asked, enjoying that Diana is shorter than him at the moment.
"It is still kinda weird," Barbara said as she readjusted her hat.
"Enough of these distractions, let's go out and have a night that we shall remember for years to come!" Diana made a proud proclamation, walking to the door instead of running due to the dress.
"Diana, you're forgetting your bag," Dinah said, pointing at the candy bag on the table.
With blushed cheeks, Diana used her horn to lift the bag to her. "Now, we can go."
After all seven ponies exited the library, they walked to the town square, seeing ponies in costumes of all shapes and colors, young and old ponies wearing them, and the young ones going door-to-door to receive free candy. During this walking, Diana asked questions about what she should do, Mary Champion answering them.
"You just need to go up to a door and sing "Nightmare Night! What a fright! Give us something sweet to bite!", it's how you get candy." Mary Champion explained to her friend.
"But should I also say "please", I don't want to be mean to ponies," Diana said, not wanting to ever be rude to others.
"Sure, Diana," Jessica said to her. "In fact, why don't you try it at that house ever there?"
What Jessica pointed out was a building that blended in with the rest of Ponyville, where the group of friends saw three fillies receiving candy. Nudging Diana was Mary Champion, who started walking to the house and motioned Diana to follow her, which she did so as she walked alongside her friend.
"Watch and learn, Diana," Mary said before she turned to the pony handing out candy. "Nightmare Night! What a fright! Give us something to bite!"
The pony was Cheerliee, who had a bowl of candy on a table. "Hello, Mary! You got a very nice vampire costume on you." She then noticed Diana but wasn't able to recognize her. "Who is this friend of yours?"
"This is my cousin, Stella Mist." Mary Champion introduced Diana to her. "My foster parents sent letters to my aunt and uncle, asking if Stella Mist can visit Ponyville and spend time with me."
"Well then, how is your night in Ponyville, Stella Mist?" Cheerliee asked the pony in the princess costume.
"I just started trick-or-treating, Ms. Cheerliee." Diana said with fake shyness.
"In that case, let me give you some candy to start you both off." Cheerliee put three pieces of candy in their bags.
Diana looked into the bag and smiled. "Thank you," Diana said, trying to act innocent like any filly.
"You're welcome, I hope the two of you have fun tonight." Cheerliee waved to Diana and Mary Champion, who both started walking back to their friends.
Waiting for the fillies, the four grown ponies saw them return before Dinah Lance walked up to them.
"So Diana, was that easy for you?" Dinah asked.
"In all fairness, yes, it was," Diana responded. "I got three pieces!"
"That is awesome and all, but would you like to get more?" Kara asked Diana.
With shock evident on her face, Diana questioned her friend. "There is more?"
Dinah smirked, "You have no idea."
"Though it might be best we meet up with Princess Luna at the spot you told us, Diana," Barbara whispered to Diana.
"You're right, let's go!" Diana started to run in excitement, leaving her friends behind.
Smiling as he saw it was Steve. "Aw, she is really happy."
Jessica nodded. "I agree, I have never seen her this excited about something. It's kinda cute."
Walking straight to the part of the forest where a life-size statue of Nightmare Eclipse stood on top of a stone, cube pedestal. Standing around the statue, the group of friends noted how the statue captured Nightmare Eclipso's terror in her grinning, sharp teeth, the crescent moon covering half her face, and the armor on her body that protected her from harm.
As they waited for a few minutes, Mary Champion was the one getting bored of standing around. "Diana, how much longer until she gets here?"
"We just need to wait for a little longer, girls," Diana said, readjusting the tiara on her head.
With a sudden whoosh of the wind from above, the group of friends looked up to see two pegasi guards in golden armor pulling on a chariot carrying only one occupant, Princess Luna. Ever since the Super Six freed her from being possessed by the Black Diamond of Eclipso, an entity contained inside the diamond that fed off of Luna's jealousy for the love and admiration Princess Celestia had received from their subjects, Luna's appearance showed she had made a full recovery since they have last seen her.
When the chariot landed next to the statue, the Super Six and Steve bowed down to Luna as she stepped off the chariot. "Greetings, Super Six, it is wonderful to see all of you again."
"To you as well, princess," Dinah said to the Princess of the Night.
"If I may ask, where are Princess Diana and Mary Marvel?" Luna didn't realize the two fillies are the ponies she asked about.
"We are right here, princess," Diana said, causing Princess Luna to look down at the fillies.
"Oh, right, I recall Celestia informing me of your true identity, Mary Marvel." Princess Luna remembered her shock when Celestia told her the news.
"Well, when I'm like this, you call me Mary Champion." Mary Champion had stated to her.
Luna then looked at Diana wearing her costume. "But why pray tell, is Diana a filly?"
"Mary used a magical stone to regress my age so I can trick-or-treat like any other filly," Diana explained. "I'll be turned back to normal when I'm done."
"I must say that you are very splendid in that dress." Luna giggled. "I'm curious how your mother and aunt would react to this."
"I'm gonna guess that they will cuddle her and want to protect her." Kara guessed from what Diana had said of her loved ones.
"Anyway, I have come to you all in the hopes you can help me adjust to this holiday and make it one of celebrating me, instead of fearing me when I was possessed as Nightmare Eclipso." Luna turned to look at the statue of her, which reminded her of being trapped in her own body and mind.
"Of course, we'd be willing to help you, Princess Luna." Barbara accepted the offer.
"If you need help with something, you can count on us." Jessica was willing.
"In fact, that gives me an idea." Dinah had a lightbulb turn on in her head. "Mary, Kara, Steve, you three keep watch on Diana. Meanwhile, Jessica, Barbara, and I will help Princess Luna adjust to Nightmare Night."
"Sounds good, Dinah." Steve agreed, everypony agreed with their head nodding.
"We just need to remember the right time to return Diana to normal." Mary Champion reminded everypony.
"My best guess is about 10:30." Barbara thought about the timing.
"Then let's go!" Diana said with excitement, eager to get more candy.
Later, both teams were split up as they both went on their goals with Dinah Lance, Jessica Cruz, and Barbara Gordan acting as escorts for Princess Luna as they all walked to the square where the Nightmare Night festival was taking place. Here, ponies would play games to entertain themselves, bobble for apples from a water bucket, and taste candy-covered cupcakes. Since they were technically on duty, the three heroes had to put on their superhero costumes and uniforms so as to hide their secret identities from ponies that might come after their loved ones.
Deciding that Luna should have a grand entrance, Green Lantern put a gray cloak on the princess to hide her from sight. Which helped as they found the Mayor in a clown costume talking with her assistance, who wore a devil costume with horns on her head.
"Mayor Mare?" Black Canary asked the elected official.
"Black Canary, it is wonderful to see you tonight." The Mayor said before looking at Luna. "Your highness?" She then bowed before the Princess of the Night.
"Madam Mayor, I was hoping you could get on stage and help organize a small amount of time where I can make a speech," Luna explained.
"She wants to adjust Nightmare Night from being a night where ponies should fear to one where she is celebrated," Batmare explained to the mayor in the clown wig.
"Of course." The Mayor said before getting on a wooden stage covered in decorations, tapping on the mic to get everypony's attention.
Hearing the mic, everypony turned to look upon the stage to see Mayor Mare standing behind a podium where a mic sat on top of it. Everypony looked curious about what she was about to say.
"I'm sorry to interrupt all of you from your fun-filled night, but it seems we have an unexpected guest tonight. May I introduce our very special guest, Princess Luna!" The Mayor then moved to the side as Black Canary, Green Lantern, and Batmare escort Luna onto the stage as she walked behind the podium, ponies bowing for her.
Taking a deep breath, Luna then spoke into the mic. "Citizens of Ponyville, I have graced your town with my presence, a harbinger of nightmares no longer, but instead a pony who only wishes that this holiday no longer is one that results in ponies fearing me, but one where I am beloved most especially on this night. What I have planned is to spend time with all of you in order to learn why you love this night as I have been told."
Responding with stomping their hooves to the ground, the ponies also cheered to show they agreed with this idea. While on the stage, the three heroes smiled with Luna, who was happy that her requests were able to get through with the ponies she leads alongside her sister.
When she walked off the stage, Luna went over a bucket of apples floating in the water within it, about 23 by her count. "What is the purpose of the apples being in the water?"
"Well, your highness, you just have to grab them out of the barrel with your mouth, pretty simple." A pony by the name of Golden Harvest explained, wearing red devil horns of her own.
"Very well, I shall attempt at this game," Luna said, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, then moving her head down in the water before coming back out without an apple in her mouth, coughing when she got out. "This is a death trap made to drown ponies! How can any pony deal with it?"
Batmare was behind Luna before walking past her. "Watch this, princess." The bat costumed pony said before putting her head in the bucket and coming back out with an apple in her mouth. "Just like this."
Following Batmare's example, Luna put her head into the water and came back out a second later, with a red apple in her mouth, letting it fall out when she saw she had succeeded.
"Princess Luna, you got one!" Green Lantern cheered for her.
"Way to go, Princess!" Mayor Mare cheered as well, other ponies doing so as well.
Blushing with the admiration she had received, the Princess of the Night was already happy with this night so far, looking at her heroic escorts with thanks in her smile.
Meanwhile, Diana was still a filly as she was taken around Ponyville by Mary Champion, Kara Danvers, and Steve Trevor as her and Mary Champion continued to trick-or-treat, gathering more candy in their bags, but not enough to start getting heavy and slowing them down. On their way to their next house, the two fillies compared notes on their candy.
Levitating a piece of chocolate from her bag, Diana licked her lips at the thought of eating the candy. "I cannot wait for when I get to eat all of this."
"Can't argue with you on that." Mary Champion licked her lips as well. "Even though we aren't done yet, we nearly have enough to overwhelm our bags."
Diana giggled at what Mary Champion had said. "At that point, it might be best if we have two more bags."
"Well, I'm glad you are having fun, Diana. I haven't seen you this happy since you bought that set of books written in another language." Steve said, recalling how he waited nearly an hour as Diana tried searching for the books in a Canterlot bookstore.
"I'm with Steve on this, I think you are having fun as a filly," Kara said, who readjusted her green witch hat as her and the others walked.
As soon as they had gotten closer to the next house, Diana stopped in her tracks as she caught something in her sight, her friends with her also looking at what she had seen. What they had seen was Jesse Quick wearing a marathon runner with a sheet of paper on her side with "Ponyville, #1" on her left and right sides, Freddy Freeman in a mummy costume made from white streamers wrapped around his body, and Donna Troy in the most surprising costume being that of a homemade replica of Diana's armor with it clearly being made from cardboard being over.
"Looks like somepony's fanfilly is dressed like them," Kara said to her temporarily younger friend.
Looking at Donna Troy, Diana smiled at the sight of the filly in a replica of her armor, which had the golden eagle on the front like Diana's armor. Then when the three young ponies were walking at the opposite end of Diana's path, she turned her head to look away.
Spotting his adopted sister, Freddy Freeman went over to her and the others. "Mary, how are things for you? A couple houses gave us apples and toothbrushes instead of candy."
"It just makes no sense that ponies will give these things out as treats." Jesse Quick pulled a toothbrush from her bag.
"I agree, it just doesn't make any sense." Diana agreed with the filly.
Donna looked at Diana, who she would recognize if it weren't for the dress that covered her wings. "Who are you?"
"Oh, I'm Stella Mist." Diana gave out her alias while she is at this age. "I'm from Manehattan and I begged my parents to bring me here because I heard that Supermare was going to be here tonight."
Watching all this from behind Diana and Mary Champion, Kara heard what Diana said and hid a smile from everypony else.
"Well, why are you with Mary then?" Jesse Quick asked the amazon pony.
"I uh... got lost from my parents and Mary found me by myself, so her and these nice ponies are helping me find them." Diana further fabricated in order to conceal her identity.
"I hope you find them, Stella Mist," Donna Troy said to Diana. "No pony should be separated from her family."
"Thank you. I like your costume by the way." Diana said, admiring how Donna Troy did her best to replicate her armor.
"Thanks." Donna Troy was glad to hear ponies other than her two friends compliment her hard work. "If you admire Supermare, then you should know that I admire Wonder Mare the most. I think it's great how she uses her awesome strength, flight, and magic to help ponies in need instead of being a bully. She even likes to help fillies like me when I am feeling down, like the time she taught me a thing or two about how to fight or how she..."
Freddy Freeman interrupted his pegasus friend with a tab. "Donna, I think she gets it."
"Sorry." Donna Troy blushed. "The point is that she is one of the greatest ponies I have ever known and I want to live up to her example."
Comprehending everything Donna Troy had said, Diana was hearthwarmed by the young filly. "I think she would love it if you said all of that to her."
"Maybe when I find her out here tonight, I will." Donna Troy assured her. "Anyway, we better get going if we want to get more candy. But it has been nice talking to you, Stella Mist."
"Hope you meet Supermare tonight." Jesse Quick said as her friends started to walk away.
"Mary, I'll meet you later at the fair." Freddy Freeman said to his sister.
"Will do, Freddy!" Mary Champion shouted and waved back to him.
After the Cutie Mark Titans had left, the four ponies were left on their own. Walking up to the house, Mary Champion knocked on the door for Diana and the two of them saw the pony opening the door was Derpy Hooves, who was wearing paper bags on her.
"Hello, little ponies!" Derpy smiled at the little fillies. "Happy Nightmare Night to the two of you!"
"Nightmare Night! What a fright! Give us something to bite!" Diana had gotten used to saying that phrase throughout the number of times she had to say it.
"What a beautiful princess dress you have on!" Derpy said to a smiling Diana, then turned to Mary Champion. "While we also have a scary werewolf."
"Excuse me? I'd hate to be a little rude, but I am a vampire." Mary Champion said while having the fake fangs in her mouth, making her voice sound she had a lisp.
"I'm so sorry. How about I give you some toothbrushes and pieces of candy to make up for it?" Derpy gave the ponies two pink toothbrushes and three pieces of gum to the two ponies. "Here's to hoping you fillies have a fun night!"
Walking away from Depry's house, Diana and Mary Champion walked back to Kara and Steve, who giggled that they had received toothbrushes. After their fit of laughter, the four started walking around Ponyville to find more houses, but Kara could tell there wasn't a lot left thanks to her x-ray vision to see through houses.
"Looks like ponies this year really do care about personal hygiene," Kara brought up to the fillies. "When I was a filly, Alex made sure I had to brush my teeth after I went trick-or-treating. Even though we all know my teeth don't break so easily."
"To be fair, it is still good to keep your teeth white," Steve said to Kara, then looked to Diana, who was looking in her bag. "I could tell you liked what Donna had said, Diana.
"It just feels good that I inspire ponies. Almost like I helped her by talking with her than I do fight bad ponies." Diana said with some slight childish enthusiasm.
Noticing that enthusiasm, Mary Champion was curious. "You just said "bad ponies". In all of the time I have known you, I have learned you would never use a term like that."
"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. Maybe I'm just really tired by staying up so late past my bedtime." Diana said, getting Kara and Steve to be concerned along with Mary Champion with what she had just said.
"Diana, you don't have a bedtime. You stay up as long as you want." Steve reminded her.
"Weird, I remember my mother saying my bedtimes are at 9:00 pm." Diana felt a little fuzzy in her mind like it was being clouded by childish ideas. "You know, my head is starting to feel weird. I remember doing things like paperwork, but it now sounds boring to me."
With that info from Diana, Mary Champion knew what was going on. "I think the stone's magic is starting to mess with your head. The wizard told me that the longer you stay the age the stone turns a pony into, the more you start to act the age."
"You mean the longer she is a filly, she'll start acting like one more and more?" Steve was very concerned about Diana's safety.
"He also said that if we don't return her to normal, she'll be stuck with her new filly personality." Mary Champion continued what she had remembered.
Knowing that is clearly something nopony wants to happen, Kara turned to her friend. "Diana, we gotta make you older again fast."
"But what if I don't want to be older? Maybe I want to be a filly again." Diana started to act more immature, backing away from her friends. "Besides, I don't even have enough candy anyway."
"You have enough to overwhelm your bag, Diana." Steve picked up her bag to prove it, showing off the multiple colors of candy.
"Liar! You just want my candy for yourself." Diana said before recalling her bag back to her, running with it away from her friends, before heading into a dark alleyway.
Chasing Diana, Kara, Mary Champion, and Steve saw her running in the dress, having some difficulty running with the gown slowing her down. Flying up into the sky, Kara flew past and in front of Diana, blocking her path forward and preventing her from going that way. Still moving forward, Diana used her super strength to push the Kryptonian down to the ground, then continuing onward.
Getting up from the ground, Kara looked like she was surprised. "I think we can confirm that she still has her strength." When she turned her head to see Mary Champion and Steve behind her. "Mary, you know what to do?"
The filly nodded. "Let me just get into my other look." Mary Champion said before shouting "Shazam" and being struck by the bolt of lightning that turned her into Mary Marvel. Flying into the air, the champion of the wizard flew to her running friend and lifted her with some mild difficulty before bringing her to Kara, who held on Diana. "Now, it's time for you to grow up, young lady!"
Using the magic from her horn to lift the age stone, Mary Marvel put all of her concentration to fire a red beam at Diana, which hit her and caused her to become consumed by a red orb of energy. As soon as it had finished its job and dissolved, it revealed Diana was back to her proper age, but the dress had grown with her, making the other ponies laugh.
Getting control of himself, Steve walked over to Diana. "Diana, do you think I'm going to steal your candy?"
Gathering her thoughts, Diana answered. "That would be ridiculous, Steve. I would gladly share some of my candy with you."
"Sweet Celestia, I'm glad your mind is back to normal too." Steve was relieved. "It would be really bad if we were too late and we did turn you back to normal, but you still had the attitude of a filly."
"Yeah, Mary is already enough to deal with," Kara said to Diana, who was released out of Kara's grip.
"Hey!" Mary Marvel shouted to Kara.
"Sorry! Just slipped out." Kara apologized to her friend before looking at Diana's costume, which looked like it hadn't grown to completely be comfortable to wear. "Looks like you might wanna take off the princess outfit."
Looking like she was being choked by the dress, Diana nodded, then using her super-strength to rip it off her. "That dress fit much better when I was smaller. I actually thought I looked great in it."
"No argument there," Kara said to Diana, who picked up the ripped fragments of the dress. "Anyway, we should probably catch up with the others and see how things are with the princess."
"Then it might be best if I wear my armor if I'm going to need a costume to go in," Diana said as she then lifted her candy bag.
"I'll just go back to being a filly again." Mary Marvel shouted before turning back to normal when she said the magic word.
Later, at the Nightmare Night fair, Princess Luna was sitting on a chair, getting attention from fillies and colts who listened to her as she told them stories of her and Celestia before she was forced into becoming Nightmare Eclipso and getting banished to the moon. While behind the crowd of school ponies, Green Lantern, Black Canary, and Batmare watched and listened in as well.
"Then when Celestia and I were pinned down by timberwolves conjured by the witch, Circe, in the Everfree Forest, Wonder Mare's mother, Hippolyta, had sliced them to sticks with several swings from her sword," Luna said to the intrigued young ponies. "Which didn't spell things would progress well for the dark lord as the three of us defeated her with a series of attacks that sent her falling to the ground."
"Wait a sec," Donna Troy, who was among the ponies listening to the princess. "You knew Wonder Mare's mom?"
"Yes, young one, but it was Hippolyta's sister, Antiope, who was more my friend while my sister was a friend to hers. I recall this one time when the two of us did some sparing with me using my magic while she used her weapons." Luna remembered the bruises she had received from Anitope's sword butting into her.
"Wow! That is awesome!" Jesse Quick was excited from what she had heard.
"You sound like the coolest princess in Equestria, Princess Luna!" Donna Troy exclaimed before feeling another pony walk behind her.
"Even cooler than me?" Wonder Mare had said to her fanfilly, wearing her armor this time.
"Wonder Mare!" Donna Troy was surprised to see her other ponies attention. "What I mean is that she is the coolest princess in Equestria, you are the best superhero princess."
Wonder Mare chuckled. "It is alright, Donna, I forgive you." She then ruffled Donna Troy's hair. "I love your costume, looks a lot like my armor."
"That means a lot coming from you. I just wanted to look like you since you mean a lot to me." Donna Troy said a shorter version of the sentences she had said unknowingly to Wonder Mare earlier.
"Well, I'm happy you are inspired." Wonder Mare was happy to see her fanfilly was happy with her choice. "If you must excuse us, the princess and I need to have a talk with each other."
The fillies and colts were disappointed as evident by their sighs of discontentment.
"Do not worry, children, I shall return shortly." Luna said to the young ponies before following Wonder Mare with the three ponies who had escorted her to a secluded alley where the rest of the Super Six and Steve Trevor were.
"I overheard everything from over here, sounds like the kids are loving you," Kara said to the dark blue princess.
"It is most wonderful to see their smiles. I never expected I would win them over with stories of my past adventures." Luna said to the group of friends. "Even the games were so much fun to attempt and succeed at."
"Glad to see tonight has fared well for you, princess." Wonder Mare said to her fellow princess.
Luna turned to Wonder Mare. "What of you, Diana? Did you receive as many pieces of candy as you had hoped for?"
"Yes, I have, princess." Wonder Mare confirmed.
"I think I'm gonna miss seeing you as a filly." Mary Champion said, holding her own bag. "It was funny to have you as tall as me."
"We both knew if I had stayed a filly, Equestria would be without one of its greatest defenders, Mary." Wonder Mare reminded her young friend.
"Though I will have to agree with Mary, you were cute as a filly." Black Canary agreed with Mary Champion.
"Even though I'm a grown pony, I can still have some fun at the fair as long as I get to spend time with all of you." Wonder Mare declared, hugging her friends in front of Luna, who smiled as she watched.
"Might I suggest bobbling for apples?" Luna asked her fellow alicorn. "I'm sure you can hold your breath as much as you want since you are your mother's daughter."
"You're right, Luna. Let's go, girls." Wonder Mare said before walking back to the fair with her friends.
At the festival, everypony including the Super Six was having a great time as all six of them, Steve, and Princess Luna was drinking warm drinks to keep themselves warm during the slightly cold night. Every single pony of the group talking to each other of their experiences of tonight's events.
"I assume you learned something, Diana?" Luna asked her fellow princess.
Diana chuckled before she started to speak. "I learned that while it might've been great to be a filly on a night like this, it is best to be thankful you can still enjoy it when you have friends who are willing to share their experiences with you and enjoy the night despite their age."
"Sounds like a great lesson learned." Luna smiled at Diana, who then ate a piece of candy she pulled from her bag. "In other news, I won over the love of the ponies here and it is going pretty well."
"That is very awesome, princess." Mary Champion said as she sat next to Luna. "I'm glad things have worked out for you as well."
"Thank you, my young friend," Luna said to the little red filly. "I assume you will return the age stone as soon as possible then?"
"Don't worry, I will make sure it is never used to do any harm to anypony." Mary Marvel reassured her.
"Yeah, it would be bad if somepony stole it and decided to use it on anyone of us." Dinah expressed her feelings. "I mean imagine if I was blasted by it and turned really old, my back would ache before I can kick somepony."
"Or how about I were turned into a filly like Diana was, who knows if my fillyhood anxiety would return as well?" Green Lantern asked a suggestion.
"In other words, just keep the stone away from anypony, Mary." Batmare reminded her friend.
"As I said, there is nothing to worry about." Mary Champion once again reassured everypony.
Author's Note
Okay, I really hope if it is okay I publish this Nightmare Night story a week before October 1st because I have been working on this thing for weeks and it has been a rough ride with a case of Writer's Block.
Anyway, I hope you guys have enjoyed this story. Please leave a comment, favorite this story, or follow me to see more adventures with the Super Six.
